How's your hay situation this year?

[Marty]

Here in Tennessee its been a good year for hay. The hay farmers were baling way before schedule this year back in April. Usually, the first cutting here is Memorial Day Weekend at the very earliest and some years its not been until the end of June or even as late as July due to lack of rain in the past.

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I am lucky to have my winter hay already in the hay barn. Its the prettiest orchard grass. We're going to get a 2nd cutting and I think I'm going to see about getting another 50 bales just to cover myself because we never know what kind of winter we're going to get; and also, we never know what kind of hay year we'll have in 2013.

I've already heard that there may be a hay problem in Oklahoma again and in Michigan. I surely hope not, so people don't wait until the last minute. If you feel you might be compromised, go hay shopping now wherever you need to.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

It is so dry over here I don't think farmers will be able to cut anymore, at least not good quality hay.

 

[Jill]

We're doing fine so far, however, we've gone back to using more complete pellets, less hay. We've done that over the years with good luck and I think the pellets are a good, fairly consistent, base for a feed program.

With the drought, with the bio-fuel idiocy, I am sure we will soon be having the annual fall / winter thread about how much more expensive feeds are, but it is always more expensive in winter and no one ever said owning horses was cheap.

 

[Leeana]

We're actually have a heck of a time...I have never paid over $3/bale fo hay. Normally it is 2.50 - 2.75...maybe $3 middle of winter. I just started calling about two weeks ago to get some more hay in and called most everyone on my hay list, craiglist ext and everyone wants $6-$10 / bale. Most are shipping and have sold their hay and have reserves on cuttings to come from folks west of us. I just got 100 bales for $7/bale...and told him I would like 100 out of the following cutting and he said I could have that for $7/bale as well. So I feel better knowing now that I will have hay.

The guy we've been buying hay from the last 2 years who was just amazing, had amazing hay, would fully load the hay for us too (major perk!) stopped growing hay this year. We got 125 bales from him of the 1st cutting and he said that was all he was going to raise. Sigh.....

 

[K Sera]

I have my six on their own dry lots although they could have access to graze some. I prefer to keep them on the dry lots for obvious reasons and have always had to buy hay anyway. I am paying 10.95 per bale for 2 strand small local baled coastal hay weighing about 50lbs. if I'm lucky. It's good hay, for now. My supplier (local feed store) says they will be going back to California again this year for 3 strand 110 lb. bales again because the supply here will be gone. I paid $30.00 a bale for the CA stuff last year but it was gorgeous and the horses loved it and I told them NO PROBLEM!

I also have a friend who may sell me some fertilized (mixed grass, bahia, etc) hay he bales soon and I may get about 50 bales from him for the winter for about $6.00 bale. I did switch back to a ration balancer and alfalfa pellets with hay and they all look great. Mine are also under 31 " too.

 

[Jill]

I wanted to point out that while pound for pound, complete feeds will always be more expensive than hay, there is also less waste (and less poop...), so that's a factor. The minis tend to get EVERYTHING there is to get out of a complete pellet, whereas some of the hay is simply wasted. There have been times when we have fed only complete feeds without any hay or any hay cubes. The horses did miss chewing, though. Right now, it's complete pellets 2x a day, hay 1x a day and everyone's happy and in good shape.

 

[dgrminis]

We are doing ok for hay here but I know not everyone in our area is in the same shape..

 

[chandab]

Hay is ok here, but about 100 miles south of us they are hurting. We might be a little short for cattle with our homegrown hay, but we need tons for them.

I bought almost 2 tons small squares from the only local hay guy that has small squares (might get more if I can this fall, but what I already got is pretty much all of his straight grass, which is my preference); this got stacked in the one barn with hay storage space. I got about 150 bales (50# maybe) from my father-in-law of ok grass hay; hopefully it'll keep, I tarped one load, put one load in the broken stock trailer (hopefully that'll keep it dry and clean) and one load is sitting outside, I had no place to put it (I've been feeding off the last load to try to use it up, and I'll lose a few bales that were on the ground, but they can go to the cows at calving.

I've never bought hay by the bale, only by the ton; pay about $100/ton around here, so the good bales I buy come to about $3.70/bale (75# bales).

I couldn't have horses if I had to pay what many of you pay for hay, it would be cheaper to feed cubes, I can get tim/alf cubes for $9/50# bag.

 

[Reble]

Well here in Ontario, I got first cut hay for my deer and swans for $2.50 a square bale

Now my Mini Alfalfa X Timothy hay cubes, my skid before it went up paid $12.00 a bag and

he told me, it was a hard fight for this price because it has gone up to $16.00 a bag.

Not sure if in Ontario we are going to even get a second cut with this dry weather.

Our pasture sure needs the rain, but lucky we have swamp land around us and the meadow grass

is still growing fine. We have only had one good rain here in a long time and weather is saying

this weekend might get some more... Hurrah, this might change things, keeping my figures crossed.

 

[palsminihorses]

Hay in SW Missouri is in short supply. Can't hardly find round bales within a reasonable distance for our cows. We are buying hay from a hay dealer in Ava (about an hour's drive). We're buying the 3X3X8 foot big bales. We get alfalfa/grass mix for the horses. It runs $300 up per ton. We're also buying a cheaper prairie grass hay for our few cows in the big bales ($205 per ton). I'm just hopeful that the dealer will still be able to truck hay in from other places.

 

[JAX]

So far this year has not been as bad as last year. keeping my fingers crossed. I have just paid $5400 to have my barn stacked with 600 50# bales of coastal. Price is still not great but better than it has been. I think it will get harder to find and therefore more expensive if I wait till later in the year so I am doing it now. Still need to find alfalfa and then also good quality coastal rounds for the big horses. I have become quite panicky about running out of good quality hay and therefore will not wait till later in the year anymore.

I hope everyone ends up being ok this year with hay availability!!

 

[Renolizzie]

Availability and price seem a bit better. We shopped hard to get what we got for a good price.

We got a really nice, mostly timothy, meadow hay for $10 per two twine bale. They weigh about 75#. I got thirty bales. My little horse will probably eat about 15 [or so] of them and the extra will go to the goats. I got really nice three twine 110# bales of alfalfa for $10 per bale. I bought 15 but it looks like I can buy more if I need it. That is being fed mostly to the goats. I was glad to get good quality that I can also use for the horse if it gets cold this winter. The alfalfa is pretty rich so I just feed the goats exactly what they need. they munch it down pretty fast, complain that they don't get enough to eat and the settle into the shade for the rest of the morning.

The little horse seems to be doing great on grass hay and I work him pretty hard so I have been giving him a cup or so of senior feed with flax seed and beet pulp in it. Cured his dandruff. I think I am set for the winter.

I also got 15 bales of straw since straw can be really hard to come by out here for $6 a bale. I use it to keep my goats warm in their hut. I use a lot during a cold wet winter and not so much during a warm one. I have 9 bales left from last year. I suppose I will need to give the horse some straw in his hut if we have a cold winter just to try to keep his little feets warm.

Last year prices were outrageous and I was thrilled to see availability and price improve.

 

[Minimor]

Hay situation isn't great here; last year was a bumper crop but because we had so much rain early in the year the hay seemed to he low in nutrients--the horses ate a lot more of it & didn't do as well as they should have. This year we had a very cold spring & the hay didn't grow well because of it. Hay fields are very thin & the guys seem to be getting no more than 2/3 of what they got last year off the same fields. I am hoping that the hay is better quality in terms of nutrients & the horses won't eat so much of it. Last year I got 130 bales from a neighbor; this year he gave up his leased land and turned his own hayland into pasture for sheep--he has only 25 bales to sell to me. Another fellow I got 230 bales from last year said he can guarantee me 150 this year. He may have a few more than that but he couldn't guarantee it. We just haven't had rain (until yesterday/today) so the second cut wasn't growing at all. I have bought a few extra bales from a different fellow, but not enough to make a whole lot of difference. So, I am going to be hay hunting before the 2013 crop is ready!

Prices have stayed the same as in 2011.

 

[disneyhorse]

Prices are up a little here, but we've always paid a lot!!!

For a 120# bale of timothy I'm paying $26

For a 80# bale of orchard I'm paying $20

 

[Miniv]

As usual, the quality is good, but the farmers are either shipping their harvest out of the area for more profit or the cost is $225 a ton on average. (Central Oregon).

Earlier this week we SCORED. The hubster stumbled on an ad for first cutting orchard grass for *$125* !!!! He called on it immediately and we picked up 2 ton. The farm manager admitted to us that he had accidentally posted the wrong price. It was supposed be $225, but he was honoring the published price. He had a total of 22 ton and it was GONE in three days. If we could have afforded it, we would have grabbed a third ton, but instead Larry told some friends of ours about the ad and they bought a ton and he even let them use the truck and helped them load and unload it.

 

[wildoak]

We are in much better shape now than last year! People here are gunshy after enduring last year and paying through the nose for lousy, small bales so we stocked up early. Prices aren't down much from last summer, paying $7 for good quality coastal and $16 for alfalfa, but the quality and bale size is much better. We are picking up another 50 this afternoon and that should do it - makes about 450 squares and a dozen round bales.

There have been times when we have fed only complete feeds without any hay or any hay cubes. The horses did miss chewing, though.

I've never not fed hay, this would be my concern. My stalled horses get hay and/or beet pulp a few times a day, in addition to grain, seems to keep their bellies happier.

Jill, how do you compensate for all the down time they have with no chewing/grazing? Mine aren't out of their stalls & working a long enough time to keep them occupied.

Jan

 

[Jill]

We do not keep them stalled, so I think that that helps. When they did not have hay to chew, they did have a social outlet / interaction around the clock and I think that that would help.

However, when we said no hay what so ever, I do think they missed chewing. They would bang buckets on the fence, and tear up some of the tree bark. What we're doing now seems to be a good balance.

We do not keep them stalled, so I think that that helps. When they did not have hay to chew, they did have a social outlet / interaction around the clock and I think that that would help.

However, when we said no hay what so ever, I do think they missed chewing. They would bang buckets on the fence, and tear up some of the tree bark. What we're doing now seems to be a good balance.

We do not keep them stalled, so I think that that helps. When they did not have hay to chew, they did have a social outlet / interaction around the clock and I think that that would help.

However, when we said no hay what so ever, I do think they missed chewing. They would bang buckets on the fence, and tear up some of the tree bark. What we're doing now seems to be a good balance.

 

[Jill]

Oops triple post, I think my phone has the hiccups.

 

[vickie gee]

Hey Jackie, ok here so far. Great hay and heavy bales at $6.50. Hope to get more but even if not I can buy from a place that irrigates.

I have been meaning to ask you about the hay I soak for my I R one. If I accidentally leave it soaking for 5-6 hours is it still good. Smells kinda smelly by then. I normally soak for an hour or 2, of course.

 

[rubyviewminis]

Last year and this year we were really lucky to find a small grower an hour away that had excellent Timothy/Fescue/Orchard mix grass available 75# two string bales. Last year they were $8.50 a bale and this year $10, but I am grateful for it and that it is GOOD hay. In the last 5 years when we could only find lousy hay that most had to be thrown out,after paying for it, and then loading and unloading it, I started using soaked hay cubes, mini cubes, and pellets to help fill the gap. Doing the same this summer to help with the heat and get more salt and water into everyone. We thought Idaho would be a great source of hay even if the drive was 3 hours. Wrong, the United Arab Emrates buy up acre's of hay across the west from the large growers, and the dairies get the rest. We could order a semi load from smaller growers, but I just don't need that much hay.

But that is the price to pay for living in a desert, it was a little better in Arizona surprisingly. That's also where I first heard the term "dry lot" lol. I got spoiled growing up with high altitude grass hay and alfalfa for $1 to $2 a bale just for winter. But I could never give up our horses, I would live in a tent if it meant a choice.

First cuttings in most of the west are mid to late July, and if the weather is just right maybe a second cutting of usually alfalfa.